[Los Angeles] [Chinese] Mao's Kitchen

Mao's Kitchen
7315 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 932-9681
http://www.maoskitchen.com

We had a delicious and satisfying lunch at Sushi Gen.  I was in the mood for more Asian food for dinner.  Flipping through my Entertainment Book, I spotted a coupon from Mao's Kitchen, which isn't far from Dr. Park's house.  We decided to order couples dishes for takeout so I can bring some for work and leave the rest for Dr. Park's family for dinner.

Mao's Kitchen is located on the busy shopping district of Melrose.  It was nice that they have their own parking lot as parking is pretty hard to find on the busy street.  The restaurant is a lot bigger than it looks from outside with both indoor and outdoor seating.  For takeout, we had to go to the back counter to order.  I couldn't help but notice there was not one Asian worker in this Chinese restaurant.  I was skeptical about the authenticity of the food, but it turned out to be a lot better than I expected.


Hot and Sour Soup ($6.00)

Tofu, tomato, wood-ear mushroom and delicate egg in the famously tasty spicy vegan broth.  I like wood-ear mushroom and I like how they gave you tons of it in the soup.



Mapo Tofu with Beef ($10.00)

Stew of soft tofu in spicy sauce direct from Sichuan Province.  You pick your own choice of protein with the entree.  Beef, pork and chicken with no extra charge.  Shrimp, sole, cha shao BBQ pork or smoked tofu for $1 extra.  We picked beef to go with the Mapo Tofu.  The mapo tofu was good, but it wasn't the traditional style of mapo tofu that I was used to.  The tofu was served with a spicy stew sauce.  It was almost like a soup.  They did gave us a lot of meat.  The big pieces of beef was very tender.


Sichun Eggplant with Pork ($11.00)

Sweet and spicy wok-sauteed young eggplant.  We picked pork with this entree.  I really like this dish.  The sauce was spicy and sweet just as described.  The shredded pork was perfect match with the sauce.  Dr. Park didn't like this dish too much though.  It was a bit too sweet for his taste.


Shao Mountain Lamb ($12.00)

Slices of lamb, leek and jalapenos stir-fried with preserved black bean, fried garlic and secret sauce.  This was everyone's favorite dish.  I was surpised how authentic this dish was.  I had this dish at SGV chinese restaurant and it tasted just the same.  The lamb with tender leek was perfect to chow down with rice. 

I like Mao's Kitchen.  I think they probably have a main Chinese chef to make all the different sauces for the dishes.  With good sauce, anyone can make good Chinese stir-fry food.  There aren't that many Chinese restaurant in the Melrose area, except those Panda Express type fast Chinese food.  Now we've found a good place to have some delicious Chinese food around the area.

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